View full sizeJeff Schrier | The Saginaw NewsJonathon L. Jones, left, and Steven J. Rembish, who are charged in the Dec. 2, 2010, death of Sean Stennett, listen to testimony Wednesday during their trial before Saginaw County Circuit Judge James T. Borchard.

SAGINAW — Prosecutors' key witness in their case against the two men charged with killing Sean Stennett early Dec. 2 last year knew exactly what kind of harm could come his way for talking with police in March.

“I just killed myself,” the now-23-year-old man said to investigators after describing — mostly — what happened the night of Dec. 1 and the early morning hours of Dec. 2.

Though the man hasn’t been harmed for his testimony against Steven J. Rembish and Jonathon L. Jones, Saginaw County Circuit Judge James T. Borchard, at prosecutors’ request, ordered that The Saginaw News and other media not name or photograph the witness.

The witness’ testimony took up most of today, the second day of testimony in the trial for Rembish, 36, and Jones, 22, who both are charged with first-degree premeditated murder and conspiring to commit that crime in the 25-year-old Stennett’s shooting death.

The trial before Saginaw County Circuit Judge James T. Borchard began Tuesday with jury selection and was to continue at 8:30 a.m. Friday.

The man, who is Rembish’s niece’s boyfriend, was hosting a birthday party for a childhood friend Dec. 1 on North Bates, less than 150 feet from the house at 1501 Hancock where Stennett was killed about 2:30 a.m.

Jones, also known as “Gotti,” was at the party, the witness testified. Later, after falling asleep, the witness awoke and heard Rembish’s laugh coming from the house’s kitchen, he said. The witness fell back asleep and woke up again about 2:40 a.m. to the combination of police vehicle lights and his mother checking on him and his girlfriend to ensure that they were not harmed by the gunshots she had just heard.

Afraid that the police would enter his home, the witness, a convicted felon, went to his closet to grab his .45-caliber Glock handgun to dispose of it, he said. The gun, however, was not there, he said.

He entered the home’s dining room, where his mother, girlfriend, sister, and Rembish’s fiancee’s sister had gathered, he said. The fiancee’s sister said “they” shot somebody, the witness said. The witness’ mother and sister both testified Wednesday that they heard the same thing.

View full sizeJeff Schrier | The Saginaw NewsKaiti Allen testifies about how Sean Stennett, held his feet to the front door of her apartment at 1501 Hancock in Saginaw to keep two intruders from entering after Stennett was shot.

About 15 minutes later, the witness testified, Jones called him to tell him “they” had killed somebody with his gun, that the gun was “safe,” and that they would ensure that the witness would be compensated for the loss of the firearm. Jones told his friend that they tapped on either the Hancock house’s window or door, saw somebody playing video games or watching television in a chair, and then began struggling with somebody inside the home to open the door, the witness said. They then fired into the house, the witness said Jones told him.

That story was different than that of Kaiti Allen, whom Stennett was visiting that early morning. Allen testified Wednesday that Stennett heard somebody knock, asked her if she was expecting company, and then grabbed her and threw her to the floor as she looked outside the window of the home’s front door. Allen heard gunshots “immediately” afterward, she said.

The unnamed witness testified that he met Rembish outside Rembish’s home the next day, where Rembish high-fived him and said, “Smeddler down.” A “smeddler,” the witness and other witnesses explained, was Rembish’s group of friends’ term for a child molester. Rembish’s fiancee, Danielle Kuebler, allegedly was molested when she was 4 years old, and the alleged molester lived about a block away from the Hancock house.

The witness told investigators all of that early March 3, after he was arrested as part of a search warrant at his home. What he left out, he said, was that he participated in the sale of the gun weeks later. He didn’t tell police that until after he was caught shooting a gun at a Bay County firing range and was charged with felonies that left him facing a mandatory two-year prison term.

Rembish’s Saginaw Township-attorney, Kirk Ellsworth, and Jones’ Toledo-based attorney, Stevin Groth, focused their cross-examination of the witness on the inconsistencies between his two police statements and prior testimony. The defense attorneys also attacked the witness’ credibility by implying that he was lying to avoid prison.

At county Assistant Prosecutor Paul Fehrman’s request, Borchard granted the witness immunity from any charges related to Stennett’s death. The witness acknowledged that he expects to get “some serious consideration,” in Ellsworth’s words, in the Bay County gun possession case.

Under cross examination, the witness said that his friend whose birthday was being celebrated came into the witness’ room while he was sleeping to change his pants, but acknowledged that he didn’t know if that was the only thing the friend did while in the bedroom. The witness also said he cleaned the gun the morning of Dec. 1 but acknowledged that he didn’t know when the gun was taken after that.

Sean Stennett

Saginaw Police Detective Jim Vondette testified that eight bullets were fired from outside the house into the front door.

Stennett was shot three times in the torso and twice in the arm, and likely died within a matter of two to three minutes, county Medical Examiner Kanu Virani testified Wednesday.

All eight bullets were fired within an area of about 3 square feet into the door from the grass in front of the house, which had a porch that was about 3.5 feet above the grass. The highest bullet entered the door about 7.5 feet above the ground, while the lowest entered about 5.5 feet above the ground, Vondette testified.

Fehrman said during his opening argument Wednesday that authorities believe Rembish was the shooter. Rembish is taller than Jones, and the unnamed witness said Rembish practiced shooting at a gun range and “is a pretty good shot.”

Rembish and Jones also are charged with assault with intent to murder Allen, Stennett’s friend, and nine and eight firearm offenses, respectively. If convicted of first-degree murder, they would face mandatory sentences of life in prison without the possibility of parole.